Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days,to be tempted by the devil.

(pertaining to today’s Gospel reading LUKE 4:1-13)

When we set out on our annual Lenten journey, our hope is it will take us to some holy places. After all, we’ve committed to doing some extra religious activity: fasting, prayer, almsgiving. Personally I wouldn’t mind if God threw in a few visions, a spiritual ecstasy, maybe a miracle or two. Aren’t we supposed to get something out of this extra effort?

What Jesus gets from following the Holy Spirit into an unforgiving environment and a lengthy fast is an encounter with the devil. Wait a minute: that sounds counterproductive! For all his extra effort, what happens to Jesus seems harsh and unfair. He’ll enjoy the companionship of angels later, but for now, he comes face to face with the personal challenge of evil. If you want to know one of the places Lent will take you, don’t forget the encounter with temptation is one of them. (Alice Camille)

What good does it do us to be confronted with weakness and temptation?